What Makes Estrogen?

Estrogen in the body

Estrogen is a sex hormone that acts to develop sex characteristics in women which make women physically different from men. Women have wider hips, smaller muscles and larger breasts than men because women have more estrogen in their bodies than men. This hormone also regulates the menstrual cycle by causing the thickening of the lining of the uterus. If a fertilized egg is not implanted into this lining, it is shed during the cycle. There are three main types of estrogen: estriol, estradiol and estrone.

Organs which make estrogen

Estrogen is mainly manufactured by the egg follicles as they develop in the ovaries. Other sites where estrogen can be made include the liver, breast, adrenal glands, placenta and the corpus luteum in the ovaries. Both men and women make estrogen, but since only women have ovaries their bodies produce more of this hormone, and consequently estrogen has more of an effect on females. Of the three types, estriol is made by the placenta during pregnancy, estrone is made in all of the areas above, and estradiol is made by in the ovaries and it is the main form of the hormone to regulate menstruation.

Hormones to trigger the release of estrogen

The production of estrogen in the body is regulated by two other hormones produced: luteinizing hormone (LH) and the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). These trigger the rise and fall of estrogen levels.

References

• What is estrogen?